Shoshana Tschuhman  Draizin

Translated by Irene Emodi

The town of Dokshitz where I was
born and spent the best years of my life, my childhood and youth, is
deeply engraved on my memory. I remember its streets, alleys, houses,
institutions, mountains, rivers and above all the people, who were so
nice and kind. I loved to climb the hill near our home, where the
Russian church was situated, and to look at all the surrounding area
from there. I loved to wander along the boulevard lined with birch
trees, named after Catherine the Great, and to stop near an old birch
tree trunk underneath which there was a spring. This spring was the
source of the Berezina river. The waters flowing through the narrow,
long passage were beautiful to behold. The further away I got from
the spring &emdash; the broader and deeper became the river. In
summer, when it was hot, we loved to go down to the river to bathe
and refresh in its water.

Dokshitz, which was under Russian rule until
World War I, was considered a district town with a large and
developed Jewish population. We made our living, as in the other
towns in the Diaspora countries in that period, from trade, industry,
crafts, and a few families from agriculture. There were no welfare
institutions then with social-governmental assistance, as are to be
found today in every cultural country. On the other hand, there were
all sorts of associations among the Jews for mutual assistance to the
needy. Among these we must mention the assistance to the sick, aiming
at helping poor families if one of those supporting them fell
ill.

As the population was mixed, there was quite
some anti-semitism, particularly when the gentile youngsters in the
area would come for a medical check-up towards their army
recruitment. Those who were accepted as recruits thought it necessary
to poke fun at the Jews, and if they would run into a Jew in a narrow
alley, they would beat him up and tear his beard.

At the end of World War I Poland once again
became an independent state. It was the town's destiny to fall under
Polish rule, and it became a border town with Russia. As a result, it
lost many sources of income, and this had an adverse effect on the
economic situation of the Jews. On one hand, trade deteriorated, on
the other hand the Polish government imposed a heavy burden of new
taxes. This resulted in a movement to leave the town.

The first to leave town were the well- to- do
tradesmen. They did not want to wait until they would be totally
ruined and left Dokshitz immediately for Vilna, to find their luck
there. Other groups, especially the young, also looked for a way to
emigrate to another country, some to north or south America, and a
few who were lucky enough to obtain a certificate, went to Israel.

A branch of the "Histadrut Hatzionit" (Zionist
Federation) had existed in Dokshitz for a long time, but was not
active. At that time the branch became active and started to play an
important role in town. A branch of "Hehalutz" was also opened in
Dokshitz, it became active mainly after the Balfour Declaration, when
the United Nations decided in Geneva to set up a Jewish homeland in
Eretz Jisrael. The decision to grant Great Britain the mandate over
the country gave rise to false hope that the gates of the land would
be open to all Jews. Unfortunately, reality proved to be different.
The British closed the gates of the land and granted but a few
certificates.

Our family was among the few Jewish families in
Dokshitz to make a living from farming. We lived on a little side-
street behind the town called "Podgorna" in the period of Polish
rule, i.e. "under the mountain". This name referred to the fact that
it was at the foot of the hill on which the Russian church was
situated.

The first to settle here was my grandfather on
mother's side, the late Joshua Selig Kabakov, soon joined by his son
Shmuel Kabakov and his son in law, Menahem Mendel Shalom Chuchman,
our father. All the members of the family mainly made a living from
growing vegetables.

Grandfather was a staunch lover of Zion. He
wanted to organize a group to go on aliya on foot to Eretz Jisrael
and settle there, but this did not materialize. They did not own the
land they tilled, for in the period of the Russian-Czarist rule,
there was a law forbidding Jews from owning land. For hundreds of
years the land had been concentrated in the hands of a few called
"Pritzim". A "Paritz" called Proshinski owned huge areas of land
around Dokshitz. He himself would lease them and my relatives were
among those who leased his land.

Committee of Keren Kayemet LeYisrael
in Dokshitz
11th day of Adar Bet,
1935

Once a year the Paritz would appear
in a splendid carriage drawn by mighty horses. He would arrive at the
leaser's home and without descending from the carriage would call the
Jew (Jid), who would come outside and pay his dues. When the Jew
appeared, the Paritz would order him to take off his hat as a sign of
honor.

Our father built a factory for hides processing
(borsika), in addition to the area of land we tilled. This factory
was a cause of anger to the local Russian priest, who protested
against the smells emanating from the borsika. He turned to court so
as to remove my father's enterprise, but my father won the case. The
priest was furious at this and took out his anger at the children who
played on the hill near the Russian church.

Not far from our home stood a beer brewery
belonging to the Gordon brothers. We children often used this
proximity to visit the brewery to taste the fresh beer.

When the Bolshevik revolution in Russia broke
out the Czarist rule came to an end, and the "Pritzim", Proshinski
among them, understood that they would not be able to concentrate
huge areas of land under the new regime, so they started to sell
their lands. Ownership was mainly transferred to Jews. The Gordon
brothers were the first to grasp this, and they immediately
approached Proshinski and asked him to sell them the land we tilled.
My father soon learned of this and he managed to prevent their
scheme.

When my father appeared before the Paritz to
reach an agreement regarding the sale of the land, the Paritz treated
my father courteously. He proposed my father buy the land he leased
and even the adjacent areas. My father told the Paritz he was unable
to buy the adjacent plots, and then the Paritz suggested my father
chose his own neighbors. My father started to promote the purchase of
land from the Paritz.

That is how a Jewish agricultural neighborhood
was established on both sides of the main road to Plotzak. The
neighborhood was pretty and its inhabitants took care of it as best
they could. We did not manage to hold on to our status of farmers for
a long time because of the problems caused to the Jews by the Polish
government. A lively movement of emigration started, and we too
became part of it.

Our grandfather, the late Rabbi Joshua Selig
Kabakov, did not have the good fortune to realize his dream of going
on aliya to Eretz Jisrael, but his grandsons and his son Shmuel did.
The first to go was our brother Zvi and then our brother Mordechai.
Once these two had settled in Eretz Jisrael they brought over their
sisters Hadassa, Ada and I. Two years later they also brought over
our father, his sister Malka and our mother.

In Israel we made a living from farming. Our
brother Zvi is at Kfar Hassidim. The family of my sister Hadassa and
my own family are at Sde Yacov. Thus we realized the dream of our
grandfather not only to go to Eretz Jisrael but also to be farmers
there.

In conclusion, I would like to dwell on the day
when we left Dokshitz, and our emotions when we took leave of our
many friends and acquaintances. Although everything had been packed
and was ready for departure, I could not believe that we were
actually leaving Dokshitz forever. Only the sound of the carriage of
coach-man Joseph-Itzhak made it clear to me that the miraculous
moment for which we had waited for so may years had come.

Our best friends gathered then to accompany us
on our way. I shall never forget the hundreds of eyes looking at us
with both affection and envy. When we reached the bridge, the group
burst into song and started to dance the "Hora". With calls of "See
you in Eretz Jisrael" we took leave of our townspeople. Who would
have thought that this was farewell forever and that we would never
see those wonderful Jews again. I am overwhelmed by anguish when I
remember that our little town was erased and that those lovely people
now lie somewhere in a mass grave. Blessed be their memory!

[Page 92]

Memories of My Childhood

Shekhna Kantorovitsh / New
York

When my family left Dokshitz in 1921 to travel
to America I was barely 12 years old. We endured all seven fires of
hell brought with World War I. It is, however, in the nature of man
to remember the good in life and forget the bad that one has endured.
Those times of war when the various armies chased one another out of
the shtetl, were very bitter times. But looking back with childlike
eyes, I see only the good and happy times.

The memories that remain of Dokshitz bring me
spiritual refreshment, a longing, which even 45 years have not
succeeded in erasing. Something always bloomed in the shtetl,
especially on Slovoder Street. Behind every house was a garden, full
of cucumbers, onions, beans, grains and other vegetables. How nice
the gardens looked when they started to bloom. Behind the gardens was
a green field with thick grass. When the field began to green it was
covered in a sort of golden blanket. Oh, how we children used to love
to roll in the soft grass, or lie on our backs among the little
yellow flowers and watch the blue sky. How beautiful God's world
looked from that spotÉ

[Page 93]

I remember the cry of the sexton, "Jews to the
bath-house," or Friday evening, "Jews, close your stores, it is
almost candle-lighting time!" In the week before Rosh Hashanah, the
sexton would rap on the shutters in early morning and call out:
"Slichos, slichos." He also announced all other community news.

But more than anything, certain curiosities
that could take place only in such a nice Jewish shtetl as Dokshitz,
are impressed upon my memory.

When I began going to kheyder, my mother used
to give me a piece of dark bread for lunch, sometimes with cheese,
sometimes without. Many a time this was the last piece of bread in
the house. The other boys used to bring a roll or white bread. I used
to wonder how it was that they got a roll and I got black bread. It
didn't take long to discover the answer. Not far from our kheyder
lived Sholem the bagel-baker. A little further, by the bridge,
Libeh-Frumeh had a store where she sold cakes. Midday, the boys from
my kheyder used to go to Sholem's or Libeh-Frumeh's. I also went
along. They went to make purchases, and I did as well. But I was
different in one way. I didn't understand that one had to pay. And so
it went a long while until my mother heard about it. The baker and
the shopkeeper never once asked me for money or refused me. Such dear
people, they didn't want to embarrass a small child...

Other things that I remember: I must have been
eight years old when this happened on a Saturday in the Slovoder
synagogue. Although I was not yet bar mitzvah age, I was given the
honor of maftir [the last person who is called to say the blessing
over the Torah reading who then may proceed to chant the Haftorah]
quite often. I would prepare to say maftir before Shabbes. It
happened that Itshe, a son of the bath-keeper (I believe his name was
Yoshe) wrote Tnoyim [the official Jewish engagement document] that
week, so people wanted to give him the honor of maftir. In grief
about the fact that I was not going to be called, I went off into a
corner and had a sobbing fit. Yoshe noticed this and came over to me,
gave me a hug and said: "Shekhnele, don't cry, I will let you say
maftir." And so it was. He made the blessings. I chanted the
Haftorah.

In the front of our house, we had a dirt patio
with a bench. Across from our house lived Khaya-Tsishe. She dealt in
all types of wares. She was a widow for many years. Later on she
married a nice man, a scholar. His name was Shimon-Arye. He used to
sit at home and study and Khaya-Tsishe continued with her sales
and

[Page 94]

supported him. His Gemorah-nign [Gemorah -
Talmud, nign - melody, melody to which he would study Gemorah], which
was a pleasure to listen to, would travel to our patio. Women from
neighboring homes would come sit on our patio to listen to
Shimon-Arye studying. The women would talk and say that Khaya-Tsishe
got a well-deserved reward in getting such a good man.

For today's generation, these vignettes will
perhaps be no more than little shtetl stories. But I believe that
they reflect the character of the general person from Dokshitz that I
remember. The nice qualities that they had - not wanting to pain
anyone or shame them.

May this all be recorded in the memory book of
Dokshitz. May the children and grandchildren of the one-time Dokshitz
Jews know from what kind of shtetl they come. When the historians of
the future one day research the history of our time, they should know
that there was once a shtetl like Dokshitz, where Jewish life
bloomed, until the murderer, Hitler, came and annihilated everything.
However, in the hearts of those who knew the shtetl, it will live
eternally.

[Page 94]

The Jewish Youth In Our Town

David Kopelewitz / Kibbutz Ruhama

Translated by Irene Emodi

Dokshitz, a typical little town in the
Diaspora. The majority of its inhabitants were Jewish and their lives
were guided by Jewish tradition.The Jews were religious, but not
fanatical. They were divided into two rival camps: the Lubavitz
Hasidim and the Mitnagdim (opponents). A young generation of proud,
active and lively Jewish youth grew up this way.

Many years passed since I last saw my little
town. I left it about a year before the outbreak of the War and the
Holocaust. When I try to remember life in town, I see Dokshitz as a
quiet and peaceful little town, far from the busy main road, hidden
in a quiet corner. The faces of the people who lived there carried an
expression of peace and quiet. In spite of the many problems of
making a living and the hostile environment, the constant awareness
of the surrounding hatred and anti-Semitism, everyone tried to create
the illusion of security in his own peaceful home.

That is how our parents lived, as did the
generations before them. I did not witness the Holocaust which also
arrived at Dokshitz, and that is why the town remains in my memory
just as it was in previous years and I can't visualize it any other
way.

I remember its main streets, densely populated
by Jews, each house close to the next, each yard close to the next.
The gentile population was pushed towards the distant corners at the
outskirts of town. I remember Market Street with its many Jewish
shops "full of goodies". On weekdays not many came to buy there, but
on Tuesday, market day, the place was full of people. From the early
hours of the morning rows of carriages drawn by horses would ride
towards town from all the villages in the area. The quiet atmosphere
turned into commotion, turmoil and cries filled the main streets
&emdash; the local anti-Semitic youngsters contributing their share.

As in the other towns of Poland at
the time of the Pilsodski government and the "Andatzia", in Dokshitz
too there was fierce incitement against Jews, and only because they
formed the majority in Dokshitz, the gentiles were prevented from
carrying out progroms. On market days the gentiles grew bolder and
they tried to provoke a fight, sparing no means. Fistfights often
broke out, but the Jewish youth, together with the "common people"
retaliated. In most cases the Jews had the upper hand and the
hooligans were chased away, however fears of tomorrow always
persisted.

In this period, a few years before the outbreak
of the War, incitement against Jews increased in all the large cities
and many agitators were sent to the small border towns. As a result,
anti-Semitism in Dokshitz increased, and the Jews slowly started to
be pushed out of their well-established economic situation. The
situation deteriorated. The future became clouded and all hearts were
filled with apprehension. At the same time the general lack of
security grew.

Such was the situation of the Jewish population
in Dokshitz on the eve of the World War. I would like to go on and
dwell on the essence of the Jewish youth, its activities and
situation in those days.

The Jewish youngsters in Dokshitz started to
get organized in the twenties at a time of relative quiet. The
monotonous life did not satisfy the ambitions and aspirations of the
local youth. They started to rise up against accepted norms, against
their parents, against the existing order.

There was no significant class distinction in
town, although there were both rich and poor among us. There were but
a few industrial enterprises, and Jews did not work there as
laborers, merely as clerks &emdash; therefore there was no background
for the creation of different classes. The situation was not the same
among the young. Here clear distinctions were developing, mainly for
Helachic reasons.

New ideas and conceptions started to infiltrate
the town. The majority of the well-to-do youth left for the large
cities, once they had graduated from the "Tarbut" elementary school,
in order to obtain a high school education. These youngsters, who
spent the year in surroundings that were different from what they
were accustomed to, started to absorb new ideas and made a clear
class distinction. They formed the first nucleus for a change of
atmosphere among the Jewish youth in Dokshitz, and when they returned
to town they brought along new ideas and different outlooks. They
inspired their friends with these new ideas and this caused a great
deal of agitation. The quest for knowledge and general education
grew. The municipal library turned into a regular meeting place for
the many youngsters of Dokshitz. Naturally, they all started to read
the books closest to their heart and status.

The agitation among the youngsters finally led
to a clear development of youth movements and parties. The young
people in town lived within narrow boundaries and wanted to develop
into new and different directions, from the extreme left to the
extreme right.

The largest and most important part started to
organize into the Zionist frameworks. Youngsters of all ages and
levels gathered at the local cell of "Hashomer Hatzair". Although the
movement was semi-legal and its activities had to be hidden from the
eyes of the authorities, this did not prevent the youngsters from
joining the ranks of the movement and participate in all its
activities. The youngsters went on outings in the framework of
"Hashomer Hatzair" , to summer and work camps. Robert Baden Powell's
scout's movement on the one hand, and the positive activity on behalf
of Jewish funds such as "Keren Hakayemet", "Keren Hayesod" on the
other hand, were at the center of the daily life of "Hashomer
Hatzair" in those days.

A Group of Jewish Youth
in the City

The main nucleus of the founders of this
movement and most of its members came from among the educated young.
It was considered a free, non-political movement.

Together with "Hashomer Hatzair" the "Hehalutz"
movement was founded, which mainly included older, working
youngsters, who decided to go on alyah to Eretz Jisrael. Here too
there was a lot of propaganda activity. Work for the national funds,
preparations for going to the movement's training kibbutzim and
&emdash;finally- alyah to Eretz Jisrael. The older members of
"Hashomer Hatzair" also joined "Hehalutz" as an independent body,
mainly for training which was organized by "Hehalutz". The "League
for Labor Israel" was formed in those days and this incorporated all
the Zionist-socialist parties and movements.

In the framework of the "League" there were
many joint activities, such as the distribution of "Sheqalim" for the
Zionist Congress, wide-ranging propaganda towards the elections and
various collections for working Eretz Jisrael.

A cell of the "Beitar" movement was also
formed, however it's impact was not felt on the Jewish street.
Another influential part of the youngsters turned the wheel into an
anti-Zionist direction. This was the Yiddishist youth which was in
favor of integration in the life of the Diaspora and adhering to the
values acquired by the Jews in their places of living, encouraging
the Yiddish language as our mother tongue and fighting an all out war
against the Zionist idea. Some of the youngsters were attracted by
this idea. This ideology did not in fact require great sacrifice or
any revolutionary changes in the way of life. It was enough to join
these ranks as a member, pay the dues and agree with the existing
situation. Their program was cultural activity &emdash; literary "tea
evenings" with lectures abounding with rhetoric, and above all
reading Yiddish literature.

The Yiddishist youth partly came from a working
background and partly from the intelligentsia. Some of them were
inclined towards the leftist movements, the communist party, and
slowly abandoned the Jewish nationalist identity. Many communists
decided to implement the doctrine and moved to the Soviet Union.

Meeting of the Group of Hechalutz
and Shomer Hatzair

The border with the Soviet Union
was merely a few kms. away from Dokshitz and these youngsters were
attracted to it. There was a time when they would stealthily cross
the border each night. An example of this was the crossing of the
Russian border by the orchestra which remained there. Although not
everyone managed to cross the border and some were even caught, the
very act indicates the atmosphere that existed in those days.

We also had youngsters called "Golden Youth"
&emdash; mainly educated youngsters who decided not to join any of
the existing parties. Their only ideology was a lack of ideology,
they wanted to be part of the existing order of life and have proper
relations with the Jewish public and to a certain extent also with
the Polish population. These youngsters also adhered to certain
values. They conducted cultural activities, but their general
activity was without any ideological trend.

This picture of Dokshitz and its youth is
engraved on my mind and I keep the memory to this very day. It is
very hard to imagine that all this was destroyed in one stroke and no
longer exists, as if it was an idle dream. May this article serve as
a commemoration and eternal candle to the population of annihilated
Dokshitz, to our parents who perished and to all the young people who
lived there and are no more.

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc.
and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of fulfilling our
mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and
destroyed Jewish communities. This material may not be copied,
sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be
reserved by the copyright holder.

JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification. JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.